The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japan eyes labor market reform, focuses on AI, chips to drive growth
TOKYO - The government said Tuesday it will aim to close wage gaps between Japan and other countries and attract more foreign talent while designating generative artificial intelligence and semiconductors as key policy areas for development.
A revised action plan released in the same day to achieve Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's push to ensure growth and wealth redistribution highlighted his stronger focus on human resources development through wage hikes and the reskilling of workers.
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Japan to invest 15 tril. yen in hydrogen supply for decarbonization
TOKYO - The Japanese government on Tuesday decided on a plan to generate 15 trillion yen ($107 billion) of investment in the supply of hydrogen over the next 15 years from the public and private sectors in a push to increase its use and speed up decarbonization.
Under the revised Basic Hydrogen Strategy, approved at a meeting between relevant ministers, the country also plans to increase its hydrogen supply sixfold from the current level of 2 million tons to around 12 million tons by 2040.
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TSMC considering 2nd chip plant in Japan's Kumamoto: report
TAIPEI - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract chipmaker, is considering building a second plant in southwestern Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture in addition to the one currently under construction there, the island's Central News Agency said Tuesday.
The agency quoted TSMC Chairman Mark Liu as telling reporters after its annual general shareholders' meeting that the location for the proposed plant is also in the prefecture and that the company will focus on mature manufacturing process technologies rather than advanced ones.
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MSDF says Japan-S. Korea coordination crucial to regional stability
TOKYO - The chief of staff of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force said Tuesday it is more important for Japanese and South Korean defense forces at sea to strengthen their coordination for regional stability than to settle a spat over a radar lock-on incident in 2018.
"What is most important is how Japan and South Korea seek to strengthen their relationship in a future-oriented way and contribute to the stability of the regional security environment," Adm. Ryo Sakai, chief of staff of the MSDF, told a press conference.
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China, Russia conduct joint patrol over Sea of Japan, E. China Sea
BEIJING - China and Russia carried out a joint aerial strategic patrol over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea on Tuesday, the Chinese Defense Ministry said.
The sixth joint patrol between the two countries comes amid increased military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow, which seek to counter the international order led by the United States and other Western nations.
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Senior U.S., Chinese officials hold "productive" talks in Beijing
WASHINGTON - Senior U.S. officials and their Chinese counterparts held "candid and productive" talks in Beijing on Monday, the State Department said, as Washington seeks to build on high-level diplomatic engagements between the two countries despite escalated tensions in recent weeks.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby characterized the meeting involving Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, as "making progress in terms of opening up additional lines of communication."
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Stuffed toy maker's ex-execs convicted in Tokyo Olympic bribery case
TOKYO - A Tokyo court on Tuesday sentenced former executives of stuffed toy maker Sun Arrow Inc. to suspended prison terms for providing around 2 million yen ($14,000) in bribes to a former Tokyo Olympic organizing committee executive.
In the trial, one of a series of Tokyo Olympic bribery cases, the Tokyo District Court gave the firm's former president, Taiji Sekiguchi, 50, and his father and former Sun Arrow executive Yoshihiro Sekiguchi, 75, sentences of one year in prison, suspended for three years.
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Japan, U.S., Australia to fund telecom network in South Pacific
TOKYO - Japan said Tuesday it, the United States and Australia will fund an estimated 135 million Australian-dollar ($90 million) project to develop advanced telecommunications networks in the South Pacific amid China's growing clout in the region.
Under the East Micronesia Cable project, to be completed in 2025 at the earliest, about 2,250 kilometers of undersea cables connecting Micronesia, Nauru and Kiribati will be laid.
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Video: Nikkei ends at 33-yr high
